Tithing

What does the Bible says about tithing? Could we tithe to the poor, to the non-profit organization, to the specific person, or to the church? What's the difference between tithing and donating? Could I "donate" my tithing?

Let us explore the definition for those terms:

Donation- An act or instance of presenting something as a gift, grant, or contribution.
Tithe- The tenth part of agricultural produce or personal income set apart as an offering to God or for works of mercy, or the same amount regarded as an obilgation or tax for the support of the church, priesthood, or the like. (dictionary.com)

The dictionary shows that our donation is our act of presenting gifts and our tithe is our income set apart as a holy offering to God or to the church. Our donation is based on our preferences, we can donate any amount to whoever we like. Our tithe is based on our committment to set the tenth of our incomes apart for God, which is our act of sacrifice. Okay, so how do we know that we are properly setting our incomes apart for God? That's a good question! Let us look into the verses and discern.

What does the Bible says about tithe:

In the beginning (the individual):

Abraham gave Melchizedek a tenth (it was the first tithe mentioned in the Bible) of everything. Melchizedek was priest of God Most High who came to bless Abram with wine and bread because God had delivered his enemies into his hand. -Gen 14:18-20

Abraham's grandson, Jacob, made a vow to God, "If You will give me what I need and keep me safe until I return to my father's house, then I will give a full tenth to You." Jacob simply trusted God and vowed that whatever God gives him, he will give them back to God in tenth. -Gen 28:20-22

Under Mosiac laws (the group):

Abraham's offsprings, Israel, was commanded by God to give every tithe to the Levites for the first time when they came out of Egypt. The tithe was directed to the Levites for their service in the tent of meeting from age 25 til their retirement at age 50. Yet God warned the Levites, "But you shall not profane the holy things of the people of Israel, lest you die." -Numbers 18:21; 32

The Levites, the sojourner (staying temporarily), the fatherless (orphans), and the widow within your towns shall receive the portion of tithe in the third year, which is the year of tithing, so that they shall be filled. -Deut 14:28-29; 26:12-14

Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me. But you say, "How have we robbed You?" In your tithes and contributions. -Malachi 3:8

Conclusion:

Hebrews 7 tricked us by pointing the tithe back to Abraham's first tithe to the priest of the Most High God who is not of Abraham's descendant and to the descendants of Levi who received the priestly office tithe from their own brothers. Then it suggested that Levi who received tithes had also paid their tithe through Abraham who paid his tithe to Melchizedek.

Okay, God works in mysterious ways. What I have seen here is that the body of Christ are paying tithe to their own brothers, the Levites, who did nothing but to minister the Lord and the people. And then the Levites somehow had paid their tithe to the people living out of their towns through Abraham. Sort through this cycle if you like.

Anyhow, I would point it back toward to what Jesus said about the widow. Jesus had set his eyes upon the temple treasury to see the rich putting in thier gifts and the widow putting in her two small coins. Then he said, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she have to live on."

Jesus didn't commented about where the poor widow decided to put her money into, the trustworthy temple treasurery or untrustworthy temple treasurery, but he commented that she was trusting and willing.

Access (ASL) Ministry

Ever visited a church with ASL ministry without any Deaf attender for few years? If you do, then this church definitely has a well-prepared shepherd without his own sheep. I have visited one like this last week right after 9AM service at my church. And this ministry is called Access (ASL) Ministry, which meets at the Chinatown Gallery-PI theatre under Grace Covenant Church.

Long time ago, I attended a church called Metro Morning Star with a deaf friend and an interpreter-friend. It was the first church I have ever committed to as a student at Gallaudet University and it had no ASL ministry at that time. That was five-six years ago. It was until I've found Ebenezers Coffeehouse that I've heard of from Evotional that I began to transfer my commitment to National Community Church. After a long time, my deaf friend and I thought of Metro Morning Star and we couldn't find the church. We were disappointed that our interpreter-friend had disappeared and that Metro Morning Star had also disappeared. Well it appears to be at that time!

On August 3rd, I attended the first National Community Church concert ever- The God Anthology. A lady who's learning ASL met me after the concert and we swapped our emails. We later scheduled our ASL meet-up at Ebenezers' pre-service worship practice. We practiced our ASL worship and then she would either escape before the service begins or stay throughout the service to learn more ASL. She later explained me about Grace Covenant Church's Access (ASL) Ministry and the Deaf ministry leaders. I explained her about my vision for the Washington Metropolian Area Deaf ministry. She was excited about the vision and so she introduced me to her Deaf ministry leaders. We connected and hanged out.

"Our church is at Chinatown Gallery-PI," they said. "Oh I used to attend Metro Morning Star there, but that church somehow disappeared," I exclaimed. They shared this, "Yeah Grace Covenant Church was once called Metro Morning Star!" My eyes widened, "What's the name of the pastor?" "Pastor Donnell." I laughed, "Whoa! I know him and that was my first church!"

I later learned that this ministry started right after we, deaf friend, interpreter-friend, and I, changed our churches. My heart melted for this church. They didn't give up. And so I had the chance to greet and talk with some leaders there last weekend with Juanita. She laughed afterward, "Whoa, you didn't warned me. I'm black and now I know that I don't go to black (majority) church like this one!" I laughed at her spunkiness. AWESOME!

Attitude Reflects Leadership

"Attitude reflects leadership, captain" is a famous quote from the movie Remember the Titans. Its the sentiment that the bad or good attitude comes from top to down. This true story occured in 1971 in Virginia where everyone had to deal with racial diversity in the school, specifically at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, and on the football field.

Julius: "I'm supposed to wear myself out for the team, what team?"
Gary: "That's the worst attitude I have ever heard of"
Julius: "Attitude reflects leadership"

Julius isn't a captian, but he represented the black group of the team. Andy is a captain and he also represented the white group of the team. In this story, Andy blamed Julius for not wearing himself out for the team. Then Julius suddenly pointed out that the whites didn't treat the blacks like a team for they would tackle them dirty in practices, harming them. It finally dawned to Andy that ignoring the misdemeanors of the whites had defiled the attitudes of the blacks, causing the conflict. Afterward, he confronted his white teammates whenever they did some misdemeanors, which eventually created the unity between the two people groups within the team and led them to many victories.

Are the attitudes of the people within the team beautifully reflecting your leadership? There's no team without any kind of conflicts yet there are many other captians who are willingly to confront the conflicts if you aren't.

Occupy DC campsite

A 31 blocks walk to Georgetown Trader Joe's led me to meet the camp of Occupy DC protestors on McPherson Square- 15th and K St NW.




There's a large poster of "Occupy DC" at the camp site enterance. There's a giant "TAKEOVR" license plate banner. There's a guy sittin' on the bench underlining the Holy Bible verses. There's a mini red banner with black marker quoting, "Smash Your TV & HAVE ADVENTURE!!!" I took picture of them. I liked the outlook, but I was clueless about the purpose.

I left to draw a list of grocercy and my backpack was packed. I decided to venture another walking distance to check it out once again. I passed it to find them again marching in Chinatown 10 streets away, blocking the road. It formed a curiousity in me- What is Occupy DC about?

It says, "We are a grassroots movement empowering the 99% to have a say in returning the country to a just political and economic system." Okay. If you have got your say, feel free to go over there and voice it out. Afterall, they will be there, with the daily General Assembly meeting at 6PM, which will last as long as the nation's economic system changes for the better. Or you could even go over there to lie down beside the dung like Ezekiel did, that's if the Holy Spirit oddly compells you.

BUT I believe that God has a better way to make His voice heard through us. Few wrote books. Few lie beside the dungs. Few sits in the pit. Few climbed up the mountains. Few remain in the wilderness. Few fasted among the magicans and the wise. And you are one of the few!

Abiding In Peace

Psalm 122:7 says, "May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels.” Psalm 29:11 says, "The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace." And Isaiah 54:10 says, "Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

I read few of my subscriptions that talked of peace. I looked up the verses they gave me. Then I somehow felt strengthened by those words. It hits me that some of us have the faith to step out in obedience, but it's up to us to abide in the peace. It's easy for us to continue to step out in faith and faith when we disciplined ourselves to know the Word- Romans 10:17. But it's hard for us to enjoy our journey as we wait for we are being stretched. We love to believe that God is going to do something BIG and SOON, our favorite terms. In this, our patience and controls are being tested.

Matthew Barnett shared his mistakes in the church planting. He once hurt himself by worrying too much about the instant success. Now he encourages us to worry less, focus on fewer things, have more fun, and pray more.